Rest in Peace

Carol Law
March 4, 1955 - January 19, 2011
You're with the Father now, and you'll never hurt again.  

Carol Ann (Pierce) Law

Carol Ann Law, 55, of Olathe, Kansas, passed away January 19, 2011. Memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 22, at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, 12251 Antioch Road, Overland Park, Kansas 66213, with reception to follow. Memorial contributions may be made to Olathe Special Olympics, 200 W. Santa Fe, PO Box 768, Olathe, Kansas 66051 and/or to the church. Carol was born March 4, 1955 in Angola, Indiana, daughter of William R. and Ilo J. (Johnson) Pierce. Carol grew up in Burton, Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University. She was a teacher, Special Olympics volunteer, a loving mom and a friend to many. She was preceded in death by her father Bill Pierce, daughter Kimberly Anne Pierce and brother Charles Pierce. Carol is survived by her children Danielle and Marc Law of Olathe; mother Joan Pierce; brother and sister-in-law Bill and Cindy Pierce; and sister and brother-in-law Pamela and Kelly Kyle. Condolences may be made at www.mtmoriah-freeman.com. Arrangements under the direction of Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, Kansas City, MO.

Today is my birthday.

I'm twenty-two years old now!  Holy crap!
It does feel a bit weird, actually.  Twenty-one didn't feel too strange, but twenty-two feels funny.
I am working all day today.  Then, I'm going home to clean myself up, then out to meet a friend of mine.  I got permission from my boss to come in late tomorrow so I can stay up tonight.  Tomorrow, I'm going out with another friend, then Saturday I'm going out with my dad and stepmom.  I like spreading my birthday celebrations out. 

The financial aid department at UWM is silly.  I should have had my classes paid already with my financial aid but they were just holding on to my money, waiting for me to go in and tell them that I am not taking twelve credits.  I'm not sure why they do that, but now I know.  If a student is taking less than full-time status, that student has to alert the financial aid office.  Whatever.  It's all good now, but it will take seven days for it to disperse.  It's a GOOD thing that a friend of mine took the same classes already, and is letting me use his books.  Else I would be book-less.

Not sure what else there is to report.  My work schedule combined with the holiday on Monday warranted a five day break from work.  That was QUITE nice.  Lots of sleep and hanging out with friends = happy Kati.

This upcoming semester will not allow for much of that.  I can deal with a limited social life during the school year; I understand it generally works that way.  The problem is, we couldn't find someone else that wanted my position, so there are only two of us working every day.  So, I will be the opening cashier Monday through Friday.  I will be SLEEPING on the weekends.  Fortunately, this does mean I have one more shift over the last semester, so I will be making a little bit more money.
Looking forward to classes too.  I need to meet more people. 

So...hanging out with a friend tonight, a different friend tomorrow night, dad and stepmom Saturday, then Sunday is THE Packer game.  OOOOOOHmahGAWWWd.  So excited.  Then Monday, school starts.
Sigh.  Time goes so quickly when you don't want it to do so, and so slowly when you do.  Alas, this semester will be over before I know it, and then it will be summer time.

I was hoping wikipedia would be nice enough to send me a cool quote for the day (I get a daily email with quotes and such) but the quote of the day is something from Stupid-Face Obama-Pants.

So here's what I picked for today:

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.
Charles de Montesquieu

Today is a short post day.

Today, I don't have much to share.  There's not a lot to update, so..........
there.  So there.

I had a killer weekend.
Spent one evening at my girl Stephanie's spot with a group of people.  Got home early Saturday morning.  Saturday night I was with my buddy Scott and a few other people til sometime really early Sunday morning. 

Now I'm at work.  When I got here my computer was broken, but the computer guy came to fix it pretty quickly.  I only had to do two transactions manually. 

Next week is my birthday.  I'm not sure what I want to do.  This will be my first birthday here, so it's not as easy to decide what to do as it was when I was in Kansas.  But, I have a few friends that wanna kick it with me, so it should be a good night, when the time comes.

quote time.

I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.  I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end.
Simone de Beauvoir

This moment feels like enough.

So, I promised I would update, and I did quite well for awhile.  But, alas, the holiday's threw off my groove.
So, as it's been a minute (or more) since my last post, I'll do my best to cover the holiday season, briefly.

As of right now, UWM is in UWinteriM session.  Basically, it's a three week "semester".  I am not taking a class during said session, so I have a cool work schedule that's getting me some extra hours.  I work Monday, Thursday, and Friday, from open to close.  So, I'm getting approximately 29 hours, as opposed to the 20 I was working during the fall semester.  I am also training someone during this session, on Mondays and Thursdays, from open to noon.  This is nice, because having someone in my office with me helps the time go much faster.  Plus, training in my department means I just sit and watch, to make sure she does everything right.  And, as the job is quite simple, there was really only one day that I had to pay attention.  She picked it up quickly.

The official word is, I do have top seniority in my department when the spring semester starts.  Word up.  I guess I'm not actually on top for the whole department, but my division of the department that works inside.  Good enough for me!

SO.
Christmas Eve and Christmas I spent in Racine with my dad and the rest of the family that lives up here.  Christmas Eve was the major gathering, and Christmas day was just my dad, stepmom, and me.  We got something like 8 or 10 inches of snow that night.  In Milwaukee, there was no snow.  Lake effect stuff is sometimes entertaining.  Sunday, the day after Christmas, we made a journey south to Rockford, Illinios, to see the bit of family that lives down there.
Wednesday the 29th, I got on an airplane early in the morning and flew to Kansas!  Every day was loads of fun, and I got to see many people that I've missed.  The timing was slightly off, so I didn't get to see everyone (as many people as I love in KS, seeing all of them would have been very difficult).
I stayed with my lovely friend Suezi and her kids, which was just absolutely amazing.  Saturday night, my last night in town, I got to have a really fun night with my Blackdog crew at Callahan's.
Sunday brought me back to Milwaukee.
Honestly, truly, I am happy here in Milwaukee.  I've met some amazing people and I am building some wonderful friendships.  But, each type of friendship is different, and I miss my friends in Kansas.
Thanks to my mom and dad for helping me to travel for the holidays.  It was truly the best Christmas present.
Goals for the trip to Kansas:
Have a Goodcents sandwich (check)
Have a veggie melt from Callahan's (check)
Drink at least one Boulevard Wheat beer (check)
Have an awesome time with people I love (definitely check)
Crossing the fingers for March to go back again.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
George Washington

Also, the title of this post.  This is one of my newest, most favorite things to say:
This moment feels like enough.
(written by Chuck Palahniuk in Snuff)